Step into the magical world of The Spiderwick Chronicles costumes with renowned costume designer Ann Foley in this exclusive interview. Foley, who has previously brought to life iconic costumes for shows like She-Hulk and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., now reveals the enchanting process behind outfitting the beloved characters of The Spiderwick Chronicles. From Thimbletack’s whimsical attire to Mulgarath’s earthy ensemble and Lucinda Spiderwick’s stunning peony gown, Foley shares her inspirations, challenges, and the meticulous craftsmanship that made these costumes truly spellbinding.
Spencer Williams: Costume designer Ann Foley. I am so happy to have you here! to talk all about The Spiderwick Chronicles costumes. Thank you so much for joining me. It’s a real pleasure.
Ann Foley: Well, thanks for having me. It’s fun. I’m excited to talk with you at The Art of Costume. It’s great.
Spencer Williams: Of course. I’ve been a fan of your work for a while now, and you’ve done so many great shows. I was excited when I heard you were doing The Spiderwick Chronicles because I grew up around these novels. I remember my brother coming home with them and being unable to put them down. With that being said, what was your familiarity with the series of novels?
Ann Foley: My nephew was reading them and loved these books, actually. I had seen the movie years ago, multiple times. I always thought it was wonderful and magical. So, when the opportunity came around to meet on it, I jumped at it. Also, the director for the first two episodes was Kat Coiro, who I worked with on She-Hulk. Kat brought me on board, along with Elena Albanese, our production designer, and Florian Bauhaus, our director of photography from She-Hulk. Working together again was great because we have such a great shorthand. And Aaron Coleite, the showrunner, is incredibly kind and a genius writer. His scripts were gorgeous, and he immediately felt part of our little gang. We got to do some really fun stuff on the show, and I had an absolute blast doing it.
What I loved about Aaron’s scripts is that they were so detailed with character choices and wonderful information that helped inform who the characters were, whether they were creatures or human characters. As a costume designer, I’m trying to help tell Aaron’s story and Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi’s story (the writers of the books) through the clothes and costumes. I want to inform the audience who these people are by looking at them. It was an incredibly fun collaboration.
Spencer Williams: With a legacy as profound as The Spiderwick Chronicles, I imagine there was a lot of collaboration between you, the showrunner, the directors, and the authors of the original novels. What did your initial conversations look like as you started to get into the scripts and envision what these characters would look like? What did your preparation look like?
Ann Foley: When I came on board, Aaron mentioned that Thimbletack was at a standstill because he was being drawn without any clothes on. Imogene Chayes, an illustrator I’ve worked with for the last couple of years, and I started working on what Thimbletack would be wearing and why. I began with mood boards, which I always do for any character, whether fantasy or human. I thought about Thimbletack, what he was doing in the Spiderwick mansion, and why he was even there. His friendship with Lucinda, who he became friends with when she was a small child, influenced his costume.
I figured it wasn’t Arthur Spiderwick who cared about putting clothes on Thimbletack; it was probably Lucinda. So, I looked at vintage doll clothes that might be in a mansion. That’s how we came up with the little shorts, tunic, and hat. The little hat he wears is actually from a vintage teddy bear. We also loved the idea of friendship bracelets, something kids of that age and even in that time period would have done. Lucinda made friendship bracelets for her and Thimbletack. Thimbletack, being a brownie, didn’t know what to do with it, so he wore his like a bandolero and attached little things from around the house to it, using it as a tool.
We were even careful about the threads used in the friendship bracelet: pink for kindness, blue for loyalty, and green for responsibility. Lucinda’s charm bracelet from her youth became Thimbletack’s tool belt. Aaron loved this idea. He even referenced Schneider from One Day at a Time, though my crew didn’t get the reference. They understood when he compared it to Batman’s tool belt. In my heart, it will always be Schneider. Thimbletack’s bracelet sits below his little belly, just like Schneider’s.
All sorts of things from around the house are attached to it: super glue, a thimble, a thumbtack, an ‘L’ for Lucinda. As a nod to Tony and Holly in the books, there’s a broken button and a needle in his hat. I suggested to Aaron that Thimbletack might have watched Mallory during her sword practice and decided to use his needle as a weapon, just like her. All these little Easter eggs and fun details are hidden in his costume.
Spencer Williams: I could tell there was some practical costume work involved, but Thimbletack is still a CG character. For those wondering, what does that process look like?
Ann Foley: We made him! Werner Pretorius and his team in Vancouver made a real Thimbletack so the actors would have someone to react to on set. It was really important for Aaron that Thimbletack existed. We even had fittings with him. He didn’t say anything, but he was perfectly lovely. All of his stuff was custom-made in my shop.
Spencer Williams: That’s so funny. I am sure he was perfectly respectable in the fittings. The Spiderwick Chronicles has a fantastic, talented cast. I want to discuss the Grace family, specifically Jared, Simon, Mallory, and Helen. You approached each character with a sense of realism and relatability, but each still has a contemporary style. What was your approach to the Grace family in general?
Ann Foley: It was wonderful getting a lot of information from Aaron’s scripts, right there on the page. We approached each character thoughtfully, considering who they were as people and how to portray that through their clothes. Knowing they were coming from Brooklyn to this small town was crucial. One interesting aspect of Spiderwick is the points of duality, from the mortal world to the fey world, and for the Grace family, who are moving from Brooklyn to a small town in Michigan. They’re out of their element.
For Jared, it was about his punk-like attitude and nature, reflected in his graphic tees. Mallory is kind of a badass. Simon is the good boy, very buttoned up, and doesn’t take a lot of chances, which you can see in his straight-laced vibe. Helen is a single mom from Brooklyn, coming out of a marriage and trying to make a new life for herself.
We also focused on the palette, ensuring each character had a color palette true to who they were. This was always a guideline for us. For Jared, it was all about the red hoodie, which was a big deal in the books and the movie because Tony was a big fan of ET. We wanted to change it and make our story more contemporary. We made the hoodie in our shop because we couldn’t find the right one.
Spencer Williams: That’s a great reference. I’m excited to go back and see that hoodie. My favorite character was Mallory. I loved her style, her color palettes, and her silhouettes. Like you said, she’s a badass with great style. What was it like working with Mychala Lee on her costumes?
Ann Foley: Oh, she’s great. She’s so much fun. Mychala will try anything. She’s like, “Let’s do it.” For me, the actors must believe in what they’re wearing. It’s fun when they put on that one thing that helps define the character. You can see a change in their posture and even their face when posing for photos. It’s like, “Oh, there she is.” We could always tell immediately, whether it was a pair of pants or sneakers, if we had gone too far or if it was perfect. This was true with all of them. They were all great to work with, and had such a great time.
Spencer Williams: You had a very collaborative cast and crew! This leads me to the next character I want to discuss: Christian Slater, who plays Mulgarath, the story’s villain, an ogre who shapeshifts into his human form. I love the subtle nods to his true ogre nature in his costume. I feel like it has to do with the colors and the deception.
Ann Foley: We tried to stay true to his nature. He’s of the earth! There was a moment where Lucinda said, “Oh, I could smell you.” I used that reference with browns, greens, and rust colors, like broken-down leaves. That was his color palette. The same with Calliope. Everything had texture and earth tones, and we completely avoided red. In my earlier conversations with Tony and Holly, they mentioned that fairies don’t like red and will completely avoid it. I took that and ran with it. You’ll see some human characters with red, but none of our fey characters have it. There’s no red in any of them.
In the end, when Mulgarath is trying to woo Helen, and he’s in that beautiful coat, you will see branches of Mulgarath as an ogre woven with gold thread into the coat.
Spencer Williams: I caught that and thought, this is not good! But my other favorite character has to be Lucinda Spiderwick. As you mentioned, we see her throughout the series, from being a little girl to the present day. I noticed that peonies are a crucial element of her costume. Talk to me about how this element starts off subtly but ends in the extravagant gown we see toward the end, which is absolutely stunning!
Ann Foley: Oh, thank you. Yeah, that was a really fun costume to make. The way Aaron had written Lucinda in the script, he mentioned always having flowers, specifically peonies, around her in the hospital. I suggested incorporating that into her clothes and costume, which he loved. I had Maybelle Pineda, another fabulous illustrator who does some of the most insane graphics you’ll ever see. I called Maybelle and said, “Here’s what I need: a peony flower pattern for a dress.” So, we made our own fabric.
That dress you see Lucinda in when Mulgarath “kills” her was custom-patterned specifically for her. Even as a young girl, you’ll see flowers in her hair, always around Lucinda. In Tony’s illustrations, a lot of his flowers are actually fairies. When they reveal themselves, the petals will come out and look like wings. In my mind, the peonies represented some of the fairies she interacted with as a child and as a young adult.
When Mulgarath stabs Lucinda in the stomach, and you see all the petals come out, she goes to another dimension with the fairies. Aaron said he wanted to see a dress the fairies made out of petals for her. He said, “Just don’t make it look like a runway dress, whatever you do.” It was October in Vancouver, and peonies were nowhere to be found. We had some FedExed in to have the real flowers for the coloration. Then, we found an incredible vintage flower press. We hand-cut each one of the petals out of silk, pressed them, hand-painted them, and then sewed them onto the dress.
Spencer Williams: Wow, that’s a lot of work.
Ann Foley: Thousands of petals on that dress.
Spencer Williams: That’s insane. It came out so beautifully. It was jaw-dropping when I saw it. It was worth the trouble.
Ann Foley: Yeah, it really is one of my favorite costumes!
Spencer Williams: That speaks to the theme I’m getting with The Spiderwick Chronicles costumes. The show is crushing records on The Roku Channel! Can you share what it was like working with your team and reflect on the overall experience now that it’s finally in the world and people love it?
Ann Foley: I know; it’s so great to see the audience embracing it like they are. I’m so happy it found its rightful place at Roku. It’s such a special show, and it was wonderful working on it. I had such an amazing team. They’re the unsung heroes—the workroom, the breakdown team, the set crew, all of them! I was really blessed to have an amazing team on this because you’re only as good as your team. And I’m really lucky.
Spencer Williams: It shows throughout this entire series. Thank you so much for talking with me. I loved the show and the entirety of The Spiderwick Chronicles costumes.
I look forward to talking to you again and seeing your upcoming work on The Last of Us Season Two. Hopefully, you’ll join us again. We’re big fans, and I hope you and your team are so proud of The Spiderwick Chronicles because it’s great.
Ann Foley: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it!
